Islam, sex, and sect: a quantitative look at women's rights in the Middle East.

In this paper I analyze Islamic Social Attitudes Survey (ISAS) data to see the effects of religious tradition and religious practice on attitudes about women’s rights among 1139 college students in Kuwait. Specifically, I test whether religious sect, religious school of thought, political identity, religious experience, religious salience, and religious practice have direct effects on women’s rights attitudes, while controlling for gender, in a majority-Muslim context. My findings show that gender, sect, religious school of thought, and political identity but not religious practice have persistent effects on attitudes about women’s rights.